Edenton Heights
by SqLib
Summary: Present Day Newsies Fic- Jo DiMaggio moves to Edenton Heights and meets a few of our favorite boys
1. Welcome to Edenton Heights

Chapter One

_Jeesh, will you look at this place. _I thought looking up at the towering walls of Edenton Heights Preparatory school. With its large granite slabs and mahogany doors it looked like some kind of prison, _yeah, a prison for kids._ All around me kids in grey and white uniforms slumped around the campus as if their black leather shoes were made of lead and there wasn't a smile to be seen. Albert nudged me gently and I made my way up the narrow entrance stairway, through the heavy mahogany doors and down a long stone corridor until we found a door labeled main office. Albert directed me to a chair, and then went to talk to a large woman who was staring at us as if we were some kind of intruders. She pointed a surprisingly bony finger at another door and Albert disappeared through it. The whole scene belonged in a silent black and white movie and all I could hear was the low hum of adult voices. I looked down at my shoes and tried to imagine myself anywhere but here, but the whole time I could feel the eyes of the secretary studying me. I looked up defiantly, meeting her eyes without blinking, until the door opened again and she looked away.

"Hello Ms. Weisel and how are we this morning?" a deep voice with a New York accent asked.

She giggled girlishly, "Oh I'm just a little tired as usual Jack."

"You work too hard Ms. Weisel. You should take a vacation." _Man this guy was sure laying it on thick. _I looked up and met the hazel eyes of a tall boy with long dirty blond hair that fell past his eyebrows. I blushed when I realized he was looking at me curiously because I was staring. Turning bright red I dropped my head down to look at my shoes once more. I heard the door to the other office open and Albert stepped out. I stood up quickly.

"Hey Jo," he said softly. "It's all settled. They'll send a student to show you to your room and everything you need is already up there." I could feel my chin begin to shake and my eyes fill with tears. My brother reached out and pulled me into his arms. "Hey kiddo, don't cry, you know I'd take you with me if I could. Just give me a couple of months, a year tops to get settled and I'll send for you. It's a promise." I nodded silently and he squeezed just a little bit harder. Finally he let go. "Come on doll face, you wouldn't want to get the rep for being a sissy." He smiled and I returned it with a watery smile of my own. He hugged me again and started to walk through the door.

"Bye Albert." He turned around and smiled. I took a moment to memorize his curly black hair, thick eyebrows, his sarcastic smile and his sad eyes.

"Bye Kiddo." And just like that, a new chapter of my life began.


	2. Jack of the Gang

* * *

Chapter Two

I found Jack looking me over with strange look on his face

"Ms. Weisel, you know no one knows this campus half as well as I do." Jack started. Ms. Weisel nodded suspiciously. "And I think, that Miss .." He pointed at me meaningfully, waving his hand.

"Di Maggio." I said raising an eyebrow. He smiled at me and turned back towards Ms. Weisel.

" Miss DiMaggio can benefit from observing me no charge." Ms. Weisel laughed and handed him a file folder.

"Sounds fine to me Jack. Goodnight"

"Goodnight Ms. Weisel."

She smiled at him and went back to her computer. Jack opened the folder, scanned the contents quickly and walked toward the door. When he realized I wasn't following he turned around and beckoned to me. Unsure I picked up my coat, glanced at Ms. Weisel and followed him.

Jack walked quickly, nodding at different people as we traversed a busy hallway. I could feel the frustration building as I tried to match my stride to his.

"Hey, man how'about slowing down." I asked slightly peeved. He turned around surprised. I raised both my eyebrows and he shook his head.

"Yeah," he said, with that same, strange look on his face. "Sorry." He began walking much more slowly and while we walked he pointed out the different aspects of campus.

"See there, that's Irving Hall, in other words the theatre. We have a great Drama crew here. Some of the best and brightest stars of the American stage today." I looked over the building closely, taking in its wide arches complemented by the delicate landscaping. _Pretty neat. _I thought stopping.

"Come on," said Jack taking my hand and leading me on. "That's the cafeteria." He said pointing out a long building surrounded by picnic tables. "The cafeteria ladies are pretty gruesome, but Tibby, the lead chef, is really nice. He gives me and the gang extra fries on chicken patty day." I wrinkled my nose in distaste. "Yeah no kidding." He said laughing softly. I looked down at our hands, noticing the way his long fingers intertwined with mine..._He's got artistic hands. _The thought came to me, unwanted and unbidden and I began to feel really uncomfortable. Almost as if he read my mind Jack let go of my hand to point out one last building.

"That's your dorm and mine actually, Pulitzer Hall, affectionally referred to as the Lodging House. Boys on floors one and two, girls on floors three and four." His voice dropped dramatically, "No intermingling after seven o'clock and doors remain open at all times." I couldn't help but laugh and I was rewarded by his grin. He glanced at his watch, it was only five thirty. "Come on, I'll introduce you to some of the guys."

* * *

We walked into an area Jack called the commons room where a bunch of kids, mostly guys, with a couple of girls thrown in the mix were lounging about playing checkers, cards, or just talking. They all looked up as Jack walked into the room and then everyone went silent. I had the feeling at that very moment that Jack was some kind of leader in this place and I looked up at him confused.

" So, uh Jack, who's the chick," The awkward silence was broken by a deep, jovial voice and I glared at a shorter boy with black curly hair and brown eyes.

"Chick?" I asked my voice tipped with warning. He raised an eyebrow at Jack and smiled. He walked up to me and taking my hand, brought his lips to my hand.

"It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss."

"Charmed I'm sure." I replied smiling in spite of myself. Jack examined the scene carefully and then faced the crowd.

"Guys, this here is Josephine DiMaggio. Jo..." he hesitated and looked at me. I nodded. "... Jo for short." I was met by a chorus of "nice to meet ya's" and "Welcomes". Jack took me aside and one by one pointed them all out to me by name.

"Okay Jo, the boy who kissed your hand is Antonio Higgins, but we call him Racetrack. The ones playing with him are Ivan with the blond hair and glasses, "Dutchy", Henry's the one with the frown, "Skittery" for short , and the one smiling quietly is James, we call him "Bumlets". Those three sitting by the fire laughing are Jamie who we call "Itey", Alex who we call "Snitch" and the one with his fingers in the pie is Oliver, who we call, well, "Pie-eater"." I giggled nervously. "The one dead asleep over there is Les and the one reading is his brother and my best friend David, we call him the "Walking Mouth" but he don't seem to appreciate it that much. Now for the girls. The one with the long brown hair is Sarah, she's Davey's sister and my ex-girlfriend." I looked at him curiously and he shrugged, "Friendly split, anyways, the one with the short black hair is Sarai who we call "Blade" and her friend, who kind of looks like her sister, is Melissa who we've named "Shot". The girl lounging over Davey's shoulder is Catherine and we've never called her anything but. Racetrack's girl over there, the one with the short curly auburn hair, that's "Dice". She and Race are a match made in gambling heaven. What one can't win fairly, the other will cheat the heck out of it."

"Hey, we don't cheat! We just improvise," yelled Racetrack and Dice at the same time. Jack swatted at them playfully with the cuff of his sweatshirt and returned to me.

"You think you got it," He whispered.

"I think I can handle it." I replied. I went through the names silently in my head: _Racetrack, Dice, Dutchy, Skittery, Itey, Bumlets, Pie-eater, Davey, Blade, Shot, Les, Catherine, Sarah.._. "And what do they call you."

"Cowboy." He answered pulling out a bandanna and tying it around his neck.

"Right and just by curiosity how does one get a nickname."

"One earns one." He replied in all seriousness with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. I smiled uncertainly.

"Oh, what fun!" I muttered nervously. The others, overhearing me laughed heartily.


	3. Good Morning

The next morning I woke up early and snuck into the bathroom before the sun came up. I was a little nervous of sharing a bathroom with two girls I'd only met the night before and I wanted to make sure I finished before they were even awake. I let the warm water slide down my face and quenched any thirst I might have to cry during the day. I let myself drown in the scent of my shampoo, _something familiar at least, _and towel dried my hair so I wouldn't make any noise. Then I mopped up any water that had fallen on the floor. _The bathroom looks exactly the way it was before I went in_ I thought satisfied. I got dressed quickly, grimacing as the rough woolen skirt scratched my skin and making sure that my blouse and sweater were fastened securely. The sun was just rising as I slipped out to the commons room, book and shoes in hands and settled myself in one of the large armchairs. The book I was reading had belonged to my mother and I managed to lose myself in it for hours on end. I opened its worn covers to a random chapter and started reading. _Chapter 6...Yay!_

"_There, in the dark wood, the valiant knight came upon the sleeping princess in a patch of lilies. Her porcelain skin glistened with the morning dew and her hair captured the golden sun rays like a crystal prism. Quietly, so as not to disturb her, he picked her up gently and mounting on his stallion Moonlight, rode off toward the palace."_

Suddenly I felt someone come up behind me and place their hands over my eyes. I resisted the urge to punch the person and they leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Guess who?" I got up slowly, pretending to think it over.

"Well, let's see. Deep male voice, smells like Irish Spring and is rather tall, at least judging from the size of his hands and ...possibly ...ticklish?" I twisted around quickly and attacked him. Jack let out a squawk and tickled me back. Before I knew what had happened I found myself pinned against the armchair, laughing hysterically.

"No please, please no. No tickle!" I giggled uncontrollably. Jack stopped and looked down at me grinning.

"That'll teach ya to mess with me, ya little scalawag."

"Yeah, yeah. You got me this time, but revenge is sweet." I replied jokingly, rubbing my hands.

"It's nice to see ya smiling, doll face." _I can't believe I forgot._ I tried hard to keep up the appearance of good humor, but I could tell, by the way he searched my face, that he could read me like an open book. _How could I forget? _I plastered a big fake smile on my face and shoved him playfully. _What kind of person am I?_

"Ooh, looky here, looks like we're interrupting something." Race nudged David with an elbow.

"You know for once, Race, I think you might be right," answered David mischievously.

"Awh, shut up you guys," said Jack throwing a couple fake punches their way while the boys pretended to be scared. "So anyway, what are we going today?"

"Isn't there like class or something?" I asked confused.

"It's Saturday." They replied

"And..."

"Oh, that's right she doesn't know," Jack said to Race and David as they dissolved in a pile of whispers.

"Know what?" I asked slightly frustrated.

Race took pen out of his pocket and placed it over his ear, "That Saturday," he began, "all we do is attend Morning Assembly and the rest of the day is..."

"Dedicated to the pursuit of the individual," chimed in David.

"In other words..." Race and Jack said simultaneously

"Ours to do with as we please," concluded the rest of the group that had gathered at the bottom of the stairs.


	4. Disciplinary Action

The walk to the auditorium was a long one, but I was so enthralled by the liveliness around me, that I hardly noticed it. I could feel winter in the air and the thought of it warmed me. It is easier to be happy when the world around you is gray and frozen; it gives you illusion that time has stopped and that happiness is no longer forced. I watched Jack as he strolled through the dying grass- he was quiet now, pensive. He seemed so much older than the others, as if the youthful leader was only an act and once it faded, an old man stood lonely and defeated. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught David examining me, a knowing smile lingering on his lips and his eyes shining with discovery. I glared at him reproachfully, but he only smiled more largely and winked.

Around me I heard the familiar chatter settle into silence. Edenton Auditorium stood glaringly in front of us, devoid of all natural beauty, with gargoyles that seemed ready to jump off their stone pedestals to grab an unsuspecting student.

"Welcome to l' Inferno" whispered Racetrack. I looked at him, startled to see his usually sarcastic smile replaced by an expression of gravity. The group climbed the steps slowly, each person nervously checking their uniforms. Once inside the group split into two groups: boys to the left and girls to the right. _No intermingling is right. _I thought. _This must be the most enforced rule on campus._ Feeling the tension in the air, I turned instinctively to look at Jack, who catching my eye, smiled reassuringly.

The room seemed to tremble as a large wooden door at the front of the room slammed open. A woman of medium height and medium weight appeared, dressed in what could only be described as a black militaristic suit with silver buttons.

"Silence!" she boomed. I looked around, no one was talking. Her cold blue eyes flashed as one by one she searched our faces. "Due to recent _events_," someone snickered and she slammed her hand on the podium, " Due to recent events, I have decided it was time you all were reacquainted with the Edenton Disciplinary Code." She raised her hands." Everyone STAND! Take out you manuals and begin." The rustling of papers could be heard as everyone pulled brown manuals out of their pockets and opened them to the first page. _I didn't know we were supposed to have them. _ I could feel panic rising in my throat when the girl next to me pressed an extra book in my hands. I looked at her thankfully and she leaned in and whispered, "Compliments of Jack." I blushed and turned to the first page.


End file.
